The Assurance Flywheel: How Systems of Trust and Development Enable Society-Scale Innovation

intro.md

Alternative Titles

• Mass, Momentum, and Modernization: The Hidden Machinery of Technological Progress and Trust
• Mapping the Invisible Machine: Understanding the Ecosystem That Turns Risk Into Progress
• From Cave Walls to Blueprints: Charting the Hidden Systems That Make Societal-Scale Innovation Possible

Peering Beyond the Cave Walls

During my time at ACUASI, one of seven FAA-designated test sites for drone integration, I witnessed firsthand the paradox of technological progress: society demands revolutionary capabilities now, but building them safely requires systems that move at geological speeds. We'd spend years testing technologies to send data into the abyss. As an engineer and test developer working at the detail level it was always challenging to see the bigger picture of what system I was working in. I would attend some meetings, read what few standards documents I could find, and try my best to devise tests that would fit those standards. It was like looking out of a cave entrance. But my cave walls had many scribblings of what the outside world might look like. Here, I am to share some of my scribbles with you.

This is the machine I wish someone had mapped for me:

Chart Keys

flowchart TD;
    Entity((Entity));
    Process[[Process]];
    Knowledge{{Knowledge}};
    Process -->|action/value/power| Another_Entity((Entity));
    Knowledge -.information.- Entity;
    Entity ==>|people| Another_Entity;

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Test 2

flowchart LR
    A[If I] --> B{could};
    B -- Yes --> C[I would];
    C --> D[Let it go, Surrender, Dislocate];

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